Mario Party 12: Birthday Clutter
|developer = |publisher = Nintendo |genre = Board Game |modes = 1-5 players |ratings = |platforms = Nintendo Switch |media = Nintendo Switch Cartridge |series = Super Mario |color1 = Black |color2 = Black |color3 = forestgreen |predecessor = Super Mario Party |successor = N/A}} Mario Party 12: Birthday Clutter, sometimes just called Mario Party: Birthday Clutter or just Mario Party 12 is a board game being developed by Sapphire Dragon Inc. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch Console and, as implied, is the eleventh main installment of the ‘’Mario Party’’ Series and the eighteenth installment overall the series, being the second one released specifically for the aforementioned console, while its predecessor, Super Mario Party is the first installment. Unlike Mario Party 9 and 10, Birthday Clutter maintains the old formula of Mario Party, been present since the first game to Mario Party 8, and was reworked again back to the old formula in Super Mario Party. This means that all players once again move on their own, participating on the gimmicks and events of the board. The Car formula is exclusive to the Bowser Party Mode, however. 8-player minigames from Mario Party 7 return as well. Similar to the Orbs, Candies, Spells and Cards in past Mario Party games, Items take the shape of gifts, fitting to the theme of the game. The game intends to bring back every playable Mario Party Character from the first game to ‘’Mario Party: The Top 100’’, with the sole exception being Koopa Kid, a character that was exclusively playable in Mario Party 5 and 6,and Bowser who was playable in Super Mario Party is now only available in Party, Minigame and Extras Mode along with Bowser Jr., though he's restrained from picking in the Main Story along with Bowser's Party Mode and introducing new ones such as Pauline with her new design and Cappy, both from Super Mario Odyssey, bringing back various of the best minigames from old Mario Party Games and some boards. Mario Party 12 also introduces a brand new character to the series, whose name is Delia, the host of the game. Story It was the birthday of the twins Mario and Luigi, so Peach invited them and their friends to board on a cruise whose destiny is to travel to the Birthday Island, a special island dedicated to attend the best birthday parties. The owner of the Island and his daughter then appear behind Mario, Luigi, Peach and all of their friends, giving them a happy and warm welcome. And so everyone enjoyed their stance on the island, so late the time for the cake already arrived. Four chefs with an odd, mysterious appearance appeared behind them, pushing the table with the gigantic cake that contained a small figurine of each of the playable characters, and at the top of the cake there were the two figurines of Mario and Luigi. However, Bowser Jr. suddenly pops out of the cake with his Koopa Clown Car and the four mysterious bakers revealed themselves to be the four unlikable Broodals, with Madame Broode and mysteriously, a robot with Mario’s appearance, appearing in front of them. Bowser Jr. told Mario and his friends that his father has a message for them, and a gigantic hologram appears, revealing the shady figure of Bowser, very angry because the owner didn’t host Bowser’s Birthday Party back then and worse, he wasn’t invited to Mario’s Party, so he threatened to kidnap the owner’s daughter and destroy Birthday Island, unless all the entire island becomes dedicated to attend Bowser and his son’s birthdays. Robo Mario then attempted to kidnap the daughter, however the owner pushes her daughter away and is kidnapped instead. And that’s not all, because the Broodals altered the mechanics of Birthday Island, transforming it, and what used to be inoffensive boards became some dangerous and intrepid ones, which were the true original ones of the island, and due to the danger they represented, they were altered. But not everything is lost! The daughter, whose name is Delia knew that there was a legend in Birthday Island that if you clear all the seven true boards of the island, the Supreme Superstar itself would appear behind the winner and grant any of the three wishes you want. So Mario and his friends decide to go through all the seven boards of Birthday Island, meet the Supreme Superstar not only to salvage Delia’s Father, but the entire Birthday Island and the day of the Mario Brothers. However, Bowser and Bowser Jr. are planning to participate along with Mario and his friends…? Gameplay At the moment it's still unclear which controller type does the game use. As aforementioned, Birthday Clutter maintains the traditional Mario Party formula, in where everyone moves at their own, strategically moving through the board and reach to the Star, the winner being the player who has gathered the highest number of Stars. Players move after rolling Dice Blocks marked with the numbers 1-10 and the result of the die is the number of spaces the player has to travel and land on a space with an event that can either help or hinder them. There are 7 boards exclusive to the Story Mode, and after clearing this mode, 14 new boards will be awaiting to be unlocked in the shop, however, each board is completely different from the others, with a special gimmick used to obtain a Star, much like in Mario Party 8. Some boards feature the classic race to the scattered Stars and buy them for 20 coins. The last five events return, which gives the losing player a Gift Item, lets it choose an event to help the losing player, such as earning coins, lowering the Star’s price or even earning a Star for free. It also lets the player choose a minigames, much like in past games. Friend Spaces and Duel spaces from Mario Party DS also return, the first ones consist on giving the landing player and another player the landed one chooses 5 coins and the latter functions similarly, but instead of giving coins, it forces the player and the chosen opponent to bet the same number of coins or Stars depending on the quantity chosen by the roulette. The winner takes away all the betted coins or Stars. Bonus Stars also return and can be turned off or on. When they are on, it proceeds to give 3 bonus stars to random players depending on some achievements obtained in the games. Here it shows the different types of bonus stars there are in the game. *'Minigame Star:' It’s given to the player who earned the most coins in minigames. *'Gift Star:' Given to the player who has used the most gifts and not just bought or obtained them. *'Travel Star:' Given to the player who has traveled the most spaces on the board. These can be obtained easier when using Double or Triple Dice Gifts. *'Event Star:' Given to the player who has landed on the Event Stars and suffered those, be it good or bad. *'Shopping Star:' Given to the player who has spent most coins by shopping in the board. Simply visiting shops doesn’t count. *'Red Star:' Given to the player who has landed on most red spaces *'Friendly Star:' Given to the player who has landed on most Friend Spaces. *'Dueling Star:' Given to the player who has landed on most Duel Spaces. Characters Birthday Clutter introduces 32 playable characters, being the installment that has the biggest roster of any Mario Party Game. Koopa Kid is the only character that did not make its cut, though every other playable character returns. Bowser and Bowser Jr. can only be used on Bowser's Party Mode, whereas Mii can only be used in Extras Mode and in Online Mode. Playable Characters Starting Unlockable after clearing Story Mode These characters are only unlockable after clearing the Story Mode, due to the fact that the player has to face against 3 of them in the last board, which unlocks all 3 of them. Purchasable Characters These characters can be bought at Toadsworth's Shop for 2,000 coins each, making this a total of 12,000 coins. Note: The following characters Pauline, Boom Boom, Pom Pom, Luma, Cappy, Wiggler and Nabbit make their first appearance in the series as playable characters. Exclusive Mode Characters Bowser and Bowser Jr. are only playable in the Party, Minigames and Extras Mode. However if Bowser's Party mode is selected, they will play a new role and can be selected by either being controlled by the computer or by a player. Miis can only be used in Extras Mode though. Supporting Characters Tag Team Party Default Partners When Luma and Cappy aren’t unlocked, Rosalina and Pauline are partners by default. However, if either Luma or Cappy is unlocked, the other girl’s default partner will be a random character until her respective partner is unlocked. The same thing happens when a character was unlocked but their partner wasn’t. Boards Since Birthday Clutter retains the same formula of the old Mario Party games, most new boards were set like that way. 7 new boards are introduced in the game, 6 available at the beginning in Party Mode and a last one that must be unlocked after clearing Story Mode. Birthday Clutter is also the very first Mario Party game to include Retro Boards, which means some boards from every past game return. Mario Party 9 and 10 boards are only available for Bowser's Party Mode though. Spaces The Friend and Duel Spaces from Mario Party DS return. Gallery Mario_Party_12_Birthday_Clutter_Boxart.png|Boxart of the game Delia Birthday Clutter.png|Delia's artwork Toadsworth Space Mario Party.png|Toadsworth Space Trivia *Delia’s design is based on a pop tart, gift boxes and envelopes while her father has the appearance of a wine bottle and a coffee. *Pauline is the only new character that’s not unlockable. Birthday Clutter also makes Pauline and Cappy's very first playable appearance in the history of any Mario game and their first appearance in the Mario Party franchise overall. *A section of Wiggler’s body was removed so that its height could be comparable to the rest of the Mario Cast. *Every supporting character and Boss from Mario Party DS, with the exception of the Piranha Plant and Koopa’s grandfather, appear as playable characters. The supporting characters are Toadette, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Koopa Troopa and Wiggler, whose makes its first appearance as a playable character in the series. For the Bosses, those are Hammer Bro, Dry Bones, Kamek and Bowser, though only the latter is playable on Bowser’s Party Mode. *The Koopalings were planned to appear in the game, but due to the fact that the Broodals felt more fitting to the game’s theme, they were replaced. However they appear as obtainable badges. Category:Mario Games Category:Mario (series) Category:Mario Party Games Category:Mario Party (series) Category:Nintendo Switch Games Category:Board Games Category:Sapphire Dragon Inc.